Yahoo Movies Italian aristocrat riding illegal ‘fixie’ bicycle with no front brakes crushed to death by lorry
An Italian aristocrat who was riding a customised bike with no front brakes was crushed under the wheels of a lorry in London, an inquest has heard.
Filippo Corsini, 21, heir to a Florentine noble family, died after being run over by a German lorry at Scotch Corner, near Knightsbridge tube station.
He was on his way to Regent’s University where he was studying International Business, the hearing was told.
He was riding an illegal customised fixed gear bike which had no front brake, similar to the one courier Charlie Alliston was riding when he knocked down and killed mum-of-two Kim Briggs in east London.
Westminster Coroner’s Court heard he was hit just before 12.40pm, on October 31, 2016, after he had overtaken the huge lorry, driven by German national Thomas Dose, who was delivering equipment to Hyde Park for Winter Wonderland.
The inquest heard Mr Corsini, who was not wearing a helmet at the time, overtook on the offside of the left hand drive lorry – which meant Mr Dose would not have been able to see him.
Shortly after overtaking the HGV, the cyclist then pulled in front of the lorry which was accelerating faster than Mr Corsini.
The lorry hit the bike and he went over the handle bars and landed in the road before the truck ran over him, causing “catastrophic injuries”.
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Mr Dose stopped and had to reverse his vehicle to allow the injured cyclist to be freed.
He was treated by paramedics and a doctor from the London Air Ambulance, but was pronounced dead at the scene.
The inquest heard from black cab driver Brian Morey, a professional driver for 54 years, who saw the fatal collision.
He said he saw Mr Corsini overtake the lorry on the offside and said: “He was peddling extra fast. I saw he just got ahead of it when he made a left turn towards the left front. It really shocked me.
“It caught the back of the bike. The back of the bike went up in the air and the cyclist went over the handlebars on to the road. When he took that left turn, I couldn’t believe it.”
He did not see the lorry go over the student, but added: “I could see the unit of the lorry bounce up and down a couple of times and I thought that ‘he has run over him.'”
He concluded: “I don’t think the lorry driver had a chance.”
Serious collision investigator PC David Keen found there were no issues with the vehicle and the diver rested appropriately before driving through London, having arrived in the UK from Holland the day before.
He also told the court Mr Corsini was very close to the lorry as he overtook him, after moving closer to the vehicle to avoid a pedestrian kerb.
PC Keen said: “He could have potentially slowed or stopped, but his ability to do that was down to the bike he was riding.
“His bike had fixed gears, no front brake and in order to slow down he had to use resistance in his legs to slow down. That is the only braking mechanism.
“Bikes should have two means of coming to a stop. One was the resistance through the legs and there should be and additional conventional brake on the front really for it to comply with regulations.
“The nature of the cycle could have been what made it more difficult to slow compared to if he had been on a more conventional cycle.”
In a statement read to the court by the Coroner, Mr Dose said he was “devastated” to hear about Mr Corsini’s death.
In her conclusion, Senior Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox gave the medical cause of death as multiple injuries and gave a conclusion of accidental death.
She added: “There is no doubt this is an absolutely tragic death: what a waste of a young man.”
